AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
ALTON F. BAKER, Publisher, 1927-1961
Letters In The Editor's Mailbag
ALTON F. BAKER JR.
Editor and Publisher
EDWIN M. BAKER
General Manager
RICHARD A. BAKER
Managing Editor
ROBERT B. FRAZIER
Associate Editor
A. If. CURREY
Associate Editor
The Register-Guard's policy is the complete and
impartial publication in its news pages of all
news and statements on news. On this page, the
editors of the Register-Guard offer their opinion
on events of the day and matters of importance
to the community, endeavoring to be candid but
fair and helpful in the development of construc
tive community policy. A newspaper is a
CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITY.
Published every evening and Sunday morning
by the Guard Publishing Co.
8A
EUGENE, OREGON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1962
Air Shows to Stir Thrills-and Thoughts
Anyone who has ever seen the Navy's
Blue Angels perform will attest that the
Emerald Empire is fortunate to have
them coming here to star in Mahlon
Sweet air shows this Saturday and Sun
day. Their extraordinary flying skills al
most defy belief. Description of them is
impossible.
All who go out to Eugene's municipal
airport either afternoon should go pie
pared to be thrilled. And perhaps, as
they watch the Blue Angels whip
through their jet-speed ballet in the sky,
these spectators also will be moved to
ponder the importance of Mahlon
Sweet Field to this entire sector of the
state. As the jet transport age develops,
this field must be further developed to
bring further air cargo and air passenger
benefits to the Emerald Empire. Mahlon
Sweet is the only air lines' terminal in
this area; it serves some 200,000 persons
directly and indirectly. And, as the field
is improved to keep pace with the rapid
overall advances of the aviation industry,
its value will be doubled and redoubled
probably sooner than most local resi
dents are apt to realize.
Watching the Blue Angels in action,
plus other Navy and Air Force jets,
Saturday's and Sunday's spectators may
also inspect facilities now in use at Mah
lon Sweet then imagine how the field
should look and operate five years from
now. Five years ago, they may recall,
jet passenger service was still in Ihe
planning stage.
Eugene's city council has already
tried to look forward five or more years
in planning the development of Mahlon
Sweet Field. In fact, that's one reason
this weekend's air shows are to be
staged. The Eugene Chamber ot Com
merce and others backing the city coun
cil's plan to put an airport improvement
bond issue on the November city ballot
are hopeful that these shows will stir
ft ft
Which Pot?
ft
George Humphrey, former secretary
of the treasury, is on the pan because
of his connection with a firm which did
big business with the government while
he was in office. Politics is playing a
part in the investigation, to be sure.
However, it is too soon to rush cither
lo his defense or to join those who aie
throwing bricks at him. Only investiga
tion will tell if the affair turns out to be
another Teapot Dome or another teapot
tempest.
Fair for All
For Lane County residents, the
world's most enjoyable fair will be open
ing Wednesday, and they won't have lo
make any 500- or 600-mile round trips
lo get in on the fun.
The .r6lh annual Lane County Fair
will play Wednesday through Sunday at
the county fairgrounds on West 13th
Avenue, complete with every attraction
residents have come lo expect.
There was a time, not so many years
back, when the county fair was of inter
est mainly to rural or farm families,
when Lane's city folks found it some
thing they attended only half-heartedly.
In recent years, however. Ihe fair
grounds have been greatly improved-
and so have the planning and the staging
of the fair, itself.
Last year Ihe Lane County fair drew
well over 100,000 visitors bins and
girls, mothers and dads, grandmothers
and grandfathers. Few were in any way
disappointed with the adroitly mingled
features of the fair. They found nothing
had been taken away from the tradition
of the fair or its prime function as an
exposition of the agricultural wealth of
Iane County. At the same lime, most of
those attending enjoyed the fair's variety
of extra features the carnival attrac
tions, commercial displays, mass-appeal
entertainments and cultural exhibits.
The l!Mi2 Lane County Fair has been
planned to outdo even last year's. And.
at prices which will offer family fun
and a chance to marvel at the agricul
tural diversity of Lane County without
straining the average family budget.
more public recognition of the rising im
portance of Mahlon Sweet as an eco
nomic community asset.
Frankly, the Register-Guard hopes
that this effort succeeds. This newspa
per has held, and still holds, the opinion
that ultimately the financing of Mah
lon Sweet improvements and operations
must be underwritten by a broader
group of taxpayers than just those resid
ing inside the Eugene city limits. It ap
pears, however, that it will be some time
yet before arrangements can be made
to give the city assistance it needs in
building Mahlon Sweet Field to function
as it should, with the facilities it should
have, five, 10 or 20 years hence.
Thus, the Register-Guard commends
the Eugene City Council for attempting
lo see that what should be done, imme
diately is done as soon as possible. If the
bond issue the council plans to submit to
the voters is approved, land can be ac
quired to extend the main runway at
Mahlon Sweet, and terminal facilities
suitable for the state's second most popu
lous community can be erected. Some
experts contend that the new terminal
facilities will literally pay for them
selves, once they are constructed. And
hardly anyone disagrees with the idea
that if this field is ever going to need a
runway to handle big jets, now is the
time to acquire Ihe necessary additional
land.
The Civil Air Patrol, assisted by local
military reserves and with the financial
underwriting support of the Eugene
Chamber of Commerce, has set the stage
for thousands to go see the Blue Angels
and the airport which is the Emerald
Empire's main link to commercial avia
tion, present and future. For a dollar-a-car
parking fee, residents of this entire
area are being offered incomparable air
entertainment, plus a personal oppor
tunity to inspect Mahlon Sweet Field and
its development prospects.
ft ft ft
Dirty Pictures
The Christian Science Monitor, ever
interested in public morality, hails what
it calls "the end of the sordids," mean
ing the decline of the dirty movie. 11
has information from Hollywood which
spells the end, it says, of the "120-min-utc
chunks of exaggerated degenera
tion," including "sadism, perversion,
rape, dope addiction and related
themes."
Fine. Wc don't need sordidness for
Ihe sake of sordidness, nor for the sake
of making the cash register ring.
In balance, however, the vogue of
sordid movies has probably added lo,
rather than detracted from, the develop
ment of the movie as a true art form.
For (oo long movies were so ham
strung by arbitrary, nice-Nellie regula
tions that they couldn't say anything. All
of them, all of them, had to be "family
fare," and that meant that most of them
were pretty insipid. Neglected by the
movies were real and important social
problems that can be understood only if
they arc talked about in all our avenues
of public discussion.
There are, of course, dirty movies,
just as there are dirty books. But the
fact that a movie, or a book, deals with
an unpleasant subject in a frank manner
doesn't make it a dirty movie or book
unless, of course, some dirty-minded
person wants to think of it that way.
If the movies can shake their recent
obsession with cheap sordidness. well
and good. But wc hope there will be no
return to the empty-headed banality thai
has been Ihe rule in so many vcars of
cinema historv.
Only One 'Veep'
Several times lately we have noticed
mention of Lyndon Johnson nnd Rich
ard Nixon as "the Veep." This is loose
usage.
There was only one "Veep " That
was Kentucky's Albcn Barkley, who
served as Truman's ke president. It
was a personal name, awarded him by
his grandchildren. The title doesn't go
wilh Ihe joh
'Fourth Gaze'
SPRINGFIELD (To the Edi
tor) I take sharp issue wilh
your editorial of Aug. 15. "The
Senate Does the Lord's Work."
The cloture vote on the com
munications satellite bill was
not a blow to Senator Morse it
was a blow to the people of the
nation!
In speaking of the far-reaching
effects of this complicated
bill the senator (speaking in
Oregon) has pointed out that the
bill, as originally presented, is
the greatest "giveaway" of all
time. Teapot Dome off shore
nil and Al Sarcna are dwarfed
by this gigantic venture, and
Morse opposed in his vigorous
and straightforward manner the
plundering of the people's re
sources. This is to his eternal credit
as well as "the little handful
lhat joined him."
Morse has never claimed the
world was out of step, but he
will defend the people's rights
even if he must do so alone! He
does not choose to battle most
of the world but will not falter
if he is forced to do so.
In your first gaze irlo your
"crystal ball" you and some
wistful-eyed Democrats see him
more comfortably in the Inde
pendent party. The record in the
Senate on Telstar indicates that
the majority are too "wistful"
to comprehend the dangers in
this bill.
Your second look into your
crystal ball must have been
made while it was covered with
the velvet the facts were there
in the record it is already a
better bill, so it won't be neces
sary for Morse to ask the voters
to believe any more or less than
is in Ihe record.
Your third "gaze" was most
Bill Vaughan
Let's Stop
Using Time
On Singles
Charles O. Finlcy, the owner
of the Kansas City Athletics, re
cently instructed .Manager Hank
Bauer to instruct Manny Jimi
ncz. the left-fielder, to hit home
runs.
Reading about it stirred my
corpuscles like a bugle blast.
Obviously, this is what we
need a return to the direct or
der. I hope that Mr. Kinley's in
structions were noticed beyond
the sports pages.
Here is that simplicity which
ruts through shilly-shallying and
pettifogging. What's-his-name
told the other fellow to take a
message lo Garcia and he didn't
ask, "Who's Garcia'.'" or "Do I
get overtime?" or "What does it
say?" lie took the message.
That's Ihe way it used to he
around here and lei's not forget
H
How about all this fooling
around in Outer Space, with
diagrams and dotted lines and
arguments about what's the best
fuel and how many stages the
rocket should have?
Tell the first sergeant lo fall
out a detail of nine men and
send them lo the moon.
And by the moon we don't
mean a little hop into the
stratosphere. We don't, to para
phrase Mr. Finlcy, pay those
boys lo hit singles.
1 was reading a critical essay
the olher day which lamented
the failure ot Ihe postwar
novelists to live up to Iheir early
promise. They're not doing the
writing of which the critic
thinks they are capable.
He went through a lot of
tortured prose as to why this
was so and why it was too bad
lhat it was so and why he w ished
it weren't.
But nowhere did he come out
and say bluntly, "O.K., you guys,
write masterpieces."
What good does it do to tell
our wives that the parsnip cas
serole is delicious and that wc
understand that the recipe is an
old one in her family and that
it is very economical and that
we realize it would be very dif
ficult, on what she has lo spend,
lo cook steaks cery night? This
sort of criticism is not construc
tive. It leads t he wife lo think
she is getting by with the
parsnip casserole.
.lust tell her. "Cook steaks."
If she asks how she is going
lo afford sleaks tell her that is
her business, not yours.
Going on to remind her that
you are not paving her to cook
parsnip casseroles might no! he
loo wise, as it could lead to a
sharp rejoinder.
President Kennedy sends
Dean Husk over lo see what Ihe
Russians are willing to work out
about Berlin. Whal kind of talk
is that'
He should tell hun lo go oer
and settle it.
' You're Not Being Paid to Hit
Singles" should be on every of
fice wall in the State Depart
ment, the Pentagon and any
other Washington building
which is lagging in home run
production.
We look to our leadership, in
business, industry and labor to
receive the spark from Charles
O. Fmloy and order us all to hit
home runs
Whether wc all will he a.Mr lo
do it is. of course, beside the
point
At least, along wilh Maniu,
wr ran sav. ' I try I try "
l Bell Sndlt-a'e Ffjiu:ir
revealing! He will go back to
the Senate in 1963 for the very
reasons you point out but the
people see them in a different
light Morse does lash out, and
Morse is furious in his tireless
efforts on behalf of the people.
There are all around us great
projects monuments to his ef
fectiveness and his grim deter
mination that he will not com
promise principles to win fights
or friends.
Justice William O. Douglas in
his recent address, "The Sub
merged American." said "The
supreme issue of our times, for
eign policy the issue that may
decide the life or death of civil
ization is not being debated
by the American people."
This address was made before
the disgraceful cloture vote in
the Senate, and Telstar does
have great foreign policy impli
cations. Please, Mr. Editor, won't you
break precedent and take the
fourth gaze and then tell us,
without sniping at Senator
Morse, why we do not get a true
account of the forces at work in
the world?
JOE L. WILLIS
443 12th St.
Incentive Plan
EUGENE (To the Editor)
Ellis Parker Grade School will
have a double shift this fall
despite protests of everyone in
volved. After all, what else can
be done in light of the fact that
the new Edgewood Grade
School is barely off the ground,
and the beginning of the school
year is barely four weeks away!
The builder has "good" reasons
... it was a rainy spring . . .
it was a rainy summer . . . the
thing that's most distressing is
that we all know it will prob-
Sylvia Porter
ably be a rainy fall! There was
a strike, but it was over weeks
ago, and still nothing much has
been accomplished. At the mo
ment there is half a crew work
ing on the school and the days
fly by. How they think they will
be even partly ready by Nov. 1
at this rate is beyond my imag
ination. Members of the school board
say that they have no tangible
control over the contractor, who
of course has always known
w hen the school year starts. But
at the flick of a motion they
can control hundreds of chil
dren and mothers. . . let the
protests fall where they may!
I for one do not feel like
carrying the entire burden. I
say, if the children double shift,
then the builder can too! For
various reasons there is not a
clause in the contract to pen
alize the builder for not com
pleting the building on sched
ule. I can think of a good one.
Our children will have a lot of
time on their hands after school
starts ... a half a day in fact.
Why not send them all down !o
the contractor's office ... let
him figure out what to do with
them! With this alternative, I
am willing lo bet that the build
er will have a triple crew on by
morning!
(Mrs.) JOAN PATTERSON
4855 Center Way
Morse Defended
EUGENE (To the Editor)
The Register-Guard attacks
Morse again! This time because
he dared to try to stop an out
and out giveaway.
How can you use a two-column
editorial spread to impugn
the motives and personality of
your senator without ever tak
ing an editorial position on the
issues he fights for? If you
think that a single corporation.
American Telephone and Tele
graph, should be handed the
billions of dollars of value of
the satellite program, the re
search and development of
which was paid for by our tax
dollars, why don't you say so?
Then you can attack the sen
ator honestly for his convic
tions. It cheapens your paper to try
to defame him simply because
he is courageous enough to fight
for our rights.
ELAINE HOFFMAN
3248 Bryceler Dr.
Drunk With Freedom?
EUGENE (To the Editor)
Could some one explain what
this means? Aug. 16th, page 1A
of the Register-Guard these
headlines greeted the public,
"Officials Confident Despite
Russ Feat, 'U.S. Can Still Be
First on Moon.' " On Page 5A
of the same pper we read "Un
ion Pickets Space Center: Gov
ernment officials met in urgent
session Thursday to consider
applying for a federal court in
junction to stop picketing that
has halted work at the U.S.
Space Development Center at
Huntsville, Ala."
The reason for "Humpty
Dumpty" falling off the wall has
never been given to my know
ledge. We are only told the re
sults. Was he so drunk with
freedom that he staggered off,
or had he become so used to
following orders that he could
not think to turn when there
was a bend in the wall?
Freedom, to he effective, de
mands responsibility on every
one's part.
D. E. ANDREWS
724 Vi E. 16th Ave.
Price Index Being Updated
Porter
The first major overhaul in
more than 10 years of the Con
sumer Price Index the only
measure we have of changes in
our cost of living is now well
over the half
way mark.
In November
Ihe Bureau of;
Labor Statistics
will start releas
ing its findings
on the spending
habits of fami
lies in H6 cities
today in con
trast lo their
spending habits
in the earlyl950s. Next
year these city-by-city studies
will become the basis for up
dating the CPI so it will show
how "real" families of city
wage-earners and clerical work
ers are spending their money
now and on whal. In January
1964 the new index will be
ready to chart price movements
in the city family's marketbas
kcl of goods and services from
month to month.
This index has been called
by one congressional, subcom
giiltce "the most important
single statistic issued by the
government." and there is no
doubting its enormous impor
tance. The wages of millions of
workers are directly tied to its
fluctuations, the paychecks of
tens of millions more are indi
rectly affected by its move
ments. The psychology of U.S.
businessmen, consumers, law
makers and of financiers the
world over is profoundly influ
enced by its trend.
As of now, though, the index
is dreadfully obsolete and no
one denies, as another congres
sional subcommittee put it, that
it could he "measuring a pat
tern of living that docs not
exist."
For instance, simple common
sense tells us that the typical
city family is spending a far
larger proportion of its income
today on such services as medi
cal care and education and such
big-ticket things as cars than in
Ihe early 1950s and is spending
a far smaller proportion of its
income on such necessities as
food and probably less on
clothes too. To be more specific,
even before the findings are
disclosed:
B'ood: The index now gives
a weight of 28 per cent to food,
meaning it assumes the average
city family spends 28 cents of
every $1 just on food. This
weight is slated to go WAY
DOWN.
As incomes rise, families need
to spend less of their total pay
on food and incomes have
climbed spectacularly in the
past 10 years. Families are
spending a record dollar total
on food, yes but a much small
er percentage of their total dol
lar income is bugeted for food.
Significance: Changes in food
prices, at times violent, will
have less influence on cost of
living trends in the new index.
Transportation: The index
now assumes the average city
family spends ll'i cents of
every $1 for both private and
public transportation. This
weight is slated to go way up.
Not only do many more mil
lions of families own one car
but also millions more ow-n two
or three cars and tens of mil
lions spend a record high per
centage of their incomes on
their car's gas, insurance, re
pairs, etc. At the same time,
tens of millions are still using
trains, buses, subways for trans
portation. Significance: Fluctuations in
the cost of buying and maintain
ing autos will have a much
greater impact on living cost
trends in the new index.
Medical and personal care,
reading and recreation: The in
dex assumes the average city
family spends 6 cents of every
SI for medical care, 2 cents for
personal care (such as haircuts,
cosmetics), 5'j cents for read
ing and recreation. Each cate
gory's weight is slated to go up.
You don't need any survey
lo confirm Ihis. You know how
much more of your income
you're spending for such serv
ices as these.
Significance: Increases in
service costs will tilt Ihe new
price index up more than the
old. It's a good thing that the
bulk of the rise in the cost of
most services is behind us.
Clothing: The index assumes
the average family spends 9
cents of every $1 for apparel.
This weight probably will go
down.
As is the case with food so it
is with clothing. The higher the
family's income, the less of it
the family must budget for ne
cessities, and clothing goes
under the heading of necessities.
The implication is that changes
in clothing prices will have a
smaller impact on the new
index.
Over-all significance: The new
findings will be a tribute to the
most affluent society in the
world. That's the fundamental
meaning of an index overhaul
which downgrades the percent
age an average family spends on
food and clothing, upgrades
what it spends on autos and on
services ranging from medical
care and education to TV repair
and the hairdresser.
Distributed. 1962. bv
Tha Hall Syndicate, Inc.
Carmichael
Thoughts
Then the Lord said to Cam,
Where w Abel your brother?
lie said, 1 do not know; am I
my brother's keeper?
liencsts 4:9
There is a destiny that makes
us brothers:
None rocs Ins wny alone:
All that we send into the lies
of others
Comev hack intn our own
Kduin Markham
Do ynu not soy. Titer e are
yet tour months . then comes
the harvest? I teil you. lift up
your eye, and see how the
fields cTe already white for
harvest. John 4 3.5.
Think, oh. erateful. think!
Him Rood the (.iod of Harvest is
lo ou;
Who pours ahund.uuT o'er your
florins fields.
James Thomon
let "ot htn uhn ears dc.yu
'""i uhn abstains, and let not
htm uhn abstains pass judo
t'trnf fi h;,rt u n fj!s; fnr God
h(TT welcomed him. Romans
14:3.
If we will measure other peo
ple's corn in our own bushel,
let us first take it to the Divine
standard, and have it sealed.
J. G. Holland.
.So thai the lair was our custo
dian until Christ came, that
we might be justified by faith.
Galarifin 3 24.
Faith is the bond of union,
the instrument of justification,
the spring of spiritual peace
and joy. the means of spiritual
peace and subsistence.
John Flavel.
lie who goes about gossiping
reveals secrets: therefore do not
associate with one who speaks
foolish'; Proverbs '0 19.
The more accurately we
scarih into the human mind,
the stronger traces we every
where find of the wisdom of
Him who made it. Edmund
Burke
TTl 1
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MEMBER Or
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ration of ali the local nea printed
In this newspaper
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Everyone
WILLIAM WAJ-MAN.N.
IX1N.N L. BONHAM,
sews Editor
City Ldltor
ROSS O. JOHNSON.
Advertising Director
JRt. rt'GI.r. Circulation Manatee
W JOHNSTON JR Auditor
ROBERt K BERTSt.H Promotion
Ralph McGill
Hard Fact:
Some Jobs
Disappear
Washington Notes: Wa will
not, of course, have a repetition
of the panic of 1929 any more
than we will repeat those of
other years. But the times most
urgently re
quire of us that
we realize the
new situation
in which the
world economy
exists, if we
and our country
are to avoid
troubles pro
duced in eco
nomic convul
sions,
seems to under
stand there are new condition
in the world. But there is re
sistance to measures necessary
to cope with them. It is a fierce
ly competitive world and will
become more so. The United
States, for all its mastery of
mass production techniques,
and its vast productive edge,
cannot increase the national
growth without selling abroad.
It may not do that unless it
also buys from other countries.
The crash of 1929 became,
worldwide in part because our
leaders of that time tried an
absurd plan. They lent Euro
pean nations money with which
to buy from us. They raised tar
iffs to prevent their goods from
competing in the local market.
The protective tariffs of those
days seem unbelievable in the
light of today's worldwide eco
nomic climate and the nation'i
almost desperate need substan
tially to increase its export rev
enues. The 1929 crash wai predicted
by many persons. Woodrow Wil
son spelled it out in his last
message the veto of a tariff
bill. He said disaster would re
sult from the folly of lending
nations money with which to
buy our goods, while we ex
cluded theirs and thus denied
them any opportunity lo attain
economic stability. The crash
did come.
We cannot have a 1929 de
pression in 1962 or any other
year. But we can encounter, or
create, a situation in which our
economy will suffer and our po
litical house be shaken. The
problem essentially is one of
competition.
Labor leaders, especially tha
older and less resilient ones,
are as puzzled as experts in
other fields. The labor force
paradoxically grows despite a
stubborn, dangerous unemploy
ment total. Most of the growth
in jobs is in the service indus
tries. The standard bread and
butter appeals of unions do not
reach many of these so em
ployed. New organizing pro
grams are announced and with
drawn. Government, labor, business,
and finance all recognize new
conditions. The more astute)
members of the Congress are
not blinded to facts. But public
opinion lags. It clings to the old
images. Hence, congressmen,
dependent on votes to stay in
office, too often must go along
with old concepts which they
know no longer are valid.
Labor and sociologists, for
example, are peering at a recent
study released by the Illinois
State Employment Service. It
reveals that Chicago lost 139.
000 jobs between 1957 and
March of 1961.
Some jobs moved to the sub
urbs as industries and service
companies relocated. The sub
urbs gained 43,000 employment
positions.
But the cold and uncomfort
able fact is that in four years
the six -country metropolitan
area lost about 9O.000 jobs.
They did not move. They disap
peared. About one-third of the van
ished work opportunities went
with the abandonment of obso
lete slaughter houses and the
decentralization and automation
of the meat packing industry.
Chicago is no longer big butcher
for the nation. It still is a city
of big shoulders. It is tool mak
er and freight handler. But the
stockyards are almost a mem
ory. The stale report also noted a
decline in production of wear
ing apparel in the Chicago
area. This is a national story.
Firms arc moving from old,
congested city areas where park
ing is not lo be had and where
traffic is slow and costly.
(There is every reason for the
Congress of the United States
and local committees to move
quickly and vigorously in the
field of urban renewal) New
plants with modern techniques
of a continuous process require
locations which permit neces
sary construction. Old buildings
which could be remodeled in
variably present an impossible
cost factor. It is cheaper to
move and house the new tcch
nolosy in a hricht. clean struc
ture desitned for it
Cities and states which refuse
to face the new situation, both
economic and human, will do
great harm to the nation whose
overall prosperity is necessary
to us all.
TtWr'bu'M 1J, fee
The HaU Sjndlcatt, Inf.